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Russian Energy Rents And The Eastward Pivot : Examining The Role Of Russia’S Oil And Gas Industry In Its Foreign Policy Behavior., Kara Stivers

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

No abstract provided.

The Hashemite Kingdom Of Jordan And Its Role In Middle Eastern Geopolitics, Elizabeth Heckmann

International and Global Studies Undergraduate Honors Theses

The Middle East is notorious for the seemingly endless series of conflicts, instances of internal unrest, and political insurrections it witnesses. From the Gulf Wars in the late 20th Century, to the Arab Spring that began in 2010, to the rise of the Islamic State in 2013, it appears that almost every state in the region is inescapably engulfed in violence and instability. However, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has proven itself to be the exception to that rule over the years. While Jordan is not unfamiliar with domestic conflict and political unrest, the kingdom has demonstrated a remarkable resilience …

Music And Social Justice, Jennifer Thomson

Bucknell: Occupied

Jennifer Thomson, assistant professor of History at Bucknell University, interviews students in the Bucknell course Music 322: Music and Social Justice. Students describe the goals of the course and discuss the resources used to exchange knowledge about social justice issues including race, inequity, prison abolition, and sentence disparity.

Introduction: A Legacy Of Raised Expectations, Leif Stenberg, Christa Salamandra

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

Terrorism And Global Domestic Insurgency Nexus: A Case Of Boko Haram Insurgency In Nigeria, Augustine N. Eneanya

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

The paper examines the link between Non-state armed Islamist groups’ terrorism and global domestic insurgency, using Nigeria as a case study. It adopts a combination of deprivation – frustration – aggression theory, social learning and social identity theories as its framework of analysis. The primary focus of inquiry is on secondary data, purposively sampled from books, journals articles, and reports of periodicals, internet and existing statistics. Qualitative research and secondary data analysis method were adopted. Using discourse, descriptive and explanatory techniques, the paper attempts to establish the relationship between Non-state armed Islamist groups’ support and Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria. …

2015 Honors Student Conference: Spotlight On Research And Creativity, Depaul University College Of Liberal Arts And Sciences

Honors Student Conference

Welcome to the second Honors Student Conference: Spotlight on Research and Creativity. Over sixty students from the DePaul University Honors Programs will present their exciting and original work at this conference. Presentations will feature innovative arguments, distinctive interpretations, and ambitious research findings developed over the course of the year. Our conference allows the presenters to share what they’ve learned with a broad audience of fellow students, faculty, staff, family and friends. Thank you for joining us to cheer them on!

This conference showcases the work of forty-two outstanding Honors Program seniors who have taken “the road less traveled” and opted …

Demystifying Open Access Workshop, Rose Fortier, Heather G. James, Martha G. Jermé, Patricia Berge, Rosemary Del Toro

Library Events and Research Institutes

Among the avenues for sharing research and scholarship, open access journals offer an increasingly viable and important option. However, it can be challenging not only to identify these journals but also to evaluate their quality and reach, as well as to weigh the benefits of publishing in them.

To help demystify this process, Raynor Memorial Libraries offered a workshop on evaluating open access journals. Aimed at faculty, graduate students, and others interested in publishing their academic work, the workshop offered an overview of current open access options for sharing research, criteria to help assess the rigor and reliability of open …

A Minority Within A Minority: A Kurdish Refugee In Portland, Oregon, Seth Thomas

Student Research Symposium

This paper is a narrative approach to the experience of Kurdish refugees in Portland, Oregon, focusing specifically on the experiences of Nihad Abdul Rahman, a 40 year old Kurdish refugee born and raised in Baghdad. Nihad arrived in Portland on January 18th, 2015, five years after beginning his refugee application process with the International Organization of Migration (personal communication, February 23, 2015). The qualitative nature of this paper is expressed through the indefinite article of the title: “A Kurdish Refugee.” Nihad receives refugee assistance from Lutheran Community Services Northwest (LCSN), a non-Profit NGO in Portland, Oregon that is one of …

Jordan: A Negative Case In A Tumultuous Region, Ann Marie Margaret Hager

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

International media brings attention to the worst conflicts worldwide. When ISIS beheads journalists, like Foley and Sotloff (Vourvoulias, 2014) journalists around the globe turn their editorial dockets to these heinous actions. Yet, it is easy to pay attention to conflict when it becomes severe, i.e., escalates to the level of war. It’s no wonder that the Arab/Israeli conflict has such a plethora of literature and media attention while tensions in places like Jordan, right next door, have not. However, Jordan is an example of a negative case: a country that has, despite its significant tensions, not experienced large-scale violence in …

Transnational Education Systems In Morocco: How Language Of Instruction Shapes Identity, Sarah Robertson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The North African country of Morocco boasts a rich history of linguistic diversity, which was further compounded with the introduction of the French language under the protectorate in 1912. Through a complicated mix of Fus’ha (Modern Standard Arabic), Darija (Moroccan Dialectical Arabic), French (historically the language of the protectorate), and most recently, the introduction of English, the system of education with respect to linguistic instruction is left in a bind. The divide between the public schools, private schools, traditional Arabic schools, and well-­‐ established French schools only grows, as the Moroccan Education system hurts for change. If language shapes education, …

The Paradox Of Power-Sharing: Stability And Fragility In Postwar Lebanon, Amanda Rizkallah

All Faculty Open Access Publications

This article examines the consequences of civil war and power-sharing settlements for the development of sectarian networks of mobilization. While power-sharing presents a viable mechanism for ending civil war, it allows the participating militias-turned-parties access to state resources and leaves their population networks and organizations intact. This continuity reduces the militias-turned-parties’ start-up costs for violent mobilization in the future, enabling them to mobilize more effectively than new parties with no combat experience. I exploit rich variation in the wartime legacies and settlement status of the major postwar parties in Lebanon to explain whether and how parties mobilized during the clashes …

Student Interactions During Study Abroad In Jordan, Jennifer Brown, Dan Dewey, R. Kirk Belnap

Faculty Publications

For many years, researchers have assumed that studying abroad produces “fluent” speakers of a given language. However, in the past several decades, researchers have recognized that learners do not always avail themselves of opportunities to interact in the target language, and even when they do, success is not guaranteed. Scholars have begun to recognize that the quality of learners’ interactions during study abroad may be more important for ultimate language gains than the quantity of language use. This qualitative study documents the interactions of 82 students of Arabic studying in Amman, Jordan, as well as the factors that influenced the …

Student Interactions During Study Abroad In Jordan, Dan P. Dewey, Jennifer Brown, R. Kirk Belnap

Faculty Publications

For many years, researchers have assumed that studying abroad produces “fluent” speakers of a given language. However, in the past several decades, researchers have recognized that learners do not always avail themselves of opportunities to interact in the target language, and even when they do, success is not guaranteed. Scholars have begun to recognize that the quality of learners’ interactions during study abroad may be more important for ultimate language gains than the quantity of language use. This qualitative study documents the interactions of 82 students of Arabic studying in Amman, Jordan, as well as the factors that influenced the …

Feminism, Psychology And Social Justice: A Possible Meeting? An Interview With Michelle Fine, Karla Galvão Adrião

Publications and Research

Michelle Fine is a Feminist Psychologist Researcher and has contributed strongly in the past two decades to the Qualitative and Participatory Methodologies field, with special attention to Critical-Participatory-Action-Research (CPAR). Her research in Social Psychology and Education puts into question the positions of power and privilege, concepts such as social justice/injustice, the intersectional reading of gender, class, race, generation, and the notion of solidarity.

Fall 2014

Insights

A farewell to Dean Suchar; Peace, Justice and Conflict Studies program gains traction; New director brings fresh perspective to public service at DePaul; Discover Chicago commemorates 20th anniversary; Exchange opportunities abound between DePaul, Fudan universities; In brief; Student awards and presentations; Faculty publications; Scholarship success story; DePaul prepares alumnus for future in government, housing

Verbal Fluency: Norms For The Lakota Population In Semantic And Phonemic Fluency Tasks, Larissa M. Jordan

Theses and Dissertations

The Lakota language in western South Dakota is spoken by a people group with a rich cultural and religious heritage. The Lakota language, still spoken by elderly Lakota people, is slowly vanishing as the majority of people in younger generations are no longer learning Lakota and with it the semantic knowledge of how Lakota speakers view the world. This study was completed to gather semantic information about the animals that bilingual Lakota English speakers name in English and in Lakota.

An additional objective of this study was to develop normative data for the Lakota people on phonemic (letter P) and …

Human Torches: The Genesis Of Self-Immolation In The Sociopolitical Context, Ryan Michael Nixon

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

In 2012 there was a record number of self-immolations globally. This phenomenon has been associated with the civil unrest and the collapse of regimes. Most recently, self-immolations in Tunisia sparked a revolution that led to the collapse of the Tunisian government. In the study of politics, self-immolations frequently appear merely as footnotes in the discussion of other phenomena. Where research has been previously conducted, focus has rested mainly on how it initially became a tool of contention and how it spreads. This paper seeks to understand the conditions that lead individuals to choose this method of protest. To do so, …

Arabic Study Abroad: An Exploratory Study Of Connections Between Journal Writing And Language Gains, Kendon Kurzer, Dr. Dan Dewey

Journal of Undergraduate Research

This project explored connections between language gains and instances of positive and negative responses as recorded in pseudo-dialogue journals kept by second language learners of Arabic participating in a study abroad (SA) program to Jordan. Daily journals from seven of forty-four total participants were analyzed for this project: those of the four students who showed the most proficiency gains over the course of the program as determined by pre- and post-study abroad program Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) scores, and those of the three students who showed no proficiency gains between their pre- and post-program OPI scores. Trends noted included the …

Limits To Literacy: The Perceived Relationship Between Functional Literacy And Political Empowerment Amongst The Forest-Dwelling Van Gujjars, Nicola Soekoe

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The failure of countrywide basic literacy campaigns to enhance social mobility has led to the promotion and development of localized, comprehensive functional literacy campaigns. These campaigns are particularly applicable to marginalized groups; as they aim to empower communities by providing them with the necessary skills to navigate their socioeconomic and political environments. This qualitative study examines the long-term impact of one such functional literacy campaign on the semi-nomadic pastoral Van Gujjar community. I use the Assets, Opportunity Structure, and Degrees of Empowerment (DOE) method to investigate community members’ perceptions of the level of political empowerment that followed their participation in …

Political Religiosity And Gender Inequality Within The Arab World, Damara Simpson

Political Science Student Scholarship

Typically, stories of gender inequality in the Arab World points towards Islam as a major contributing factor. The research question of this project is: what is the cause of the gender inequality and lack of women’s rights in Arab countries? I hypothesized that the level of political religiosity of Arab countries is directly linked to gender inequality. The dependent variable for my research project is gender inequality, and the independent variable is political religiosity. My hypothesis was tested by rating and ranking countries in terms of political religiosity and gender inequality and comparing these two data sets graphically. According to …

As Stable As The Dollar Stretches: The Impact Of Us Foreign Aid On Social Stability In Jordan, Jasmine Renee Jordan

Honors Theses

After the fall out of the Arab Spring in 2010, most of the countries in the Middle East and North Africa region suffered from extreme political, social, and economical instability. Usually, the citizens of these counties were revolting against the authoritarian regimes that have held power for decades. Jordan stands as the only obvious exception. How has Jordan maintained relative economic stability where others have failed? I have found that it is hard to judge the economic or social stability of Jordan without recognizing the large amounts of foreign aid Jordan has received from the US. This thesis asks what …

Not By Accident: How Egyptian Civil Society Successfully Launched A Revolution, Helen-Margaret Nasser

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis examines the role of civil society in Egypt and argues that it was central to the success of the 2011 revolution that ended in the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. I will discuss the development of civil society under Mubarak and demonstrate its strength. In understanding civil society in Egypt, this thesis will discuss the strengths of groups such as associations, Islamist movements, women's groups, labor activism, and youth movements. I also demonstrate that it is important to understand the precedents established that shaped the state's stance towards civil society. As such, this thesis will also discuss the …

Whose Niqab Is This? Challenging, Creating And Communicating Female Muslim Identity Via Social Media, Gordon Alley-Young

Publications and Research

The 2010 annual report of the US State Department on Human Rights reported a rising bias towards Muslims in Europe (US State Department, 2010) while France, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland enact laws restricting religious dress and/or mosques. Despite this bias, Gallup reports that 77% of UK Muslims identify with their country versus only 50% of the general public (BBC News, 2009). North American Muslims face similar challenges. US news reports of mosque building or expansion draw vocal opposition like that expressed about an Islamic Cultural Center opened near Ground Zero in New York City. US reality series All American Muslim …

Does Measuring L2 Utterance Fluency Equal Measuring Overall L2 Proficiency? Evidence From Five Languages, Wendy Baker-Smemoe, Dan Dewey, Jennifer Brown, Rob A. Martinsen

Faculty Publications

The current study examined the relationship between overall second language (L2) proficiency and utterance fluency measures for several L2s in order to determine whether utterance measures can be used to predict L2 proficiency. The study measured the speech rate, number of hesitations, number and length of pauses, number and length of runs, and number of false starts using excerpts from 126 ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interviews (OPIs) spoken by 86 participants. Forty of the participants provided pre‐ and post‐OPI speech samples, which also allowed examination of changes over time. All 86 participants were native English speakers who spoke L2 French, German, …

The Effect Of Global English On Culture And Identity In The Uae: A Double-Edged Sword, Sarah Hopkyns

All Works

The United Arab Emirates' complex history, its current demographics, its youthfulness as a country, and the fact that it is a region undergoing fast-paced change make the issue of cultural identity particularly relevant and urgent in this part of the world. This is especially true given the rapid spread of English in the sphere of education and everyday life in recent years. This paper discusses the above issues before analyzing the attitudes and perceptions of female Emirati university students and female Emirati primary school teachers with regard to global English and its effects on local culture and identity. After analysis …

Learning To Be Muslim—Transnationally, Louise Cainkar

Social and Cultural Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

This essay discusses the religious upbringing experiences and reflections upon them articulated by 53 Muslim American youth who were interviewed as part of a larger sociological study of Arab American teenagers living transnationally. On extended sojourns in their parents’ homelands, these youth—most were born in the US although some migrated to the US at a young age—were taken “back home” to Palestine and Jordan by their parents so they could learn “their language, culture, and religion." They were asked about learning to be Muslim in the US and overseas in the context of a much larger set of questions about …

The Rise Of Political Islam Can The Turkish Model Be Applied Successfully In Egypt? By Dr Taha Kassem, Taha Kassem

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

Although the parliamentary elections run in Egypt in December 2011- January 2012 indicated that Egypt is witnessing an era of political or democratic transformation, they signified the rise of political Islam to authority; the rise which created a lot of debates and posed a lot of questions about the political and economic future of Egypt. The core of these debates circles around these questions: Would Egypt adopt, literally, a rigid pro- Islamic type of rule based on the Islamic Sharia (Islamic Code) or would it adopt a moderate model, like that in Turkey, in its political and economic transformation? Pessimists …

Global Arab World Migrations And Diasporas, Louise Cainkar

Social and Cultural Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Sectarianism And External Intervention: The Us Occupation Of Iraq And The Rise Of Political Sectarianism In The Arab World, Gamal M. Selim, Dalia Rushdy

Political Science

منذ أن تبلورت في البلاد العربية ظاهرة الهوية، لم تكن تلك الهوية تمثل أي تعارض مع الدين أو المذهب. كما أن التعدد الثقافي العربي وبما تضمنه من تنوع طائفي وإثني ظل سمة أصيلة من سمات المجتمعات العربية لعقود طويلة، وكان مصدرا مهما من مصادر الثراء والتنوع الثقافي والحضاري. لكن هذا التعدد تحول منذ الغزو الأمريكي للعراق عام 2003 من مصدر لإثراء المجتمع إلى سبب لهدمه وتفكيكه، حيث برزت مسألة الطائفية السياسية بقوة، وأصبحت إحدى أكثر المشكلات التي يعاني الوطن العربي من ويلاتها. ورغم أننا لا يمكن أن ننكر أن ظهور الطائفية في الدول العربية سابق على الغزو الأمريكي للعراق، إلا …

Watchdog Or Lapdog? The Role Of U.S. Media In The International Humanitarian Intervention In Libya, Maggie Moore

Exchange: The Journal of Public Diplomacy

Do media influence government or does government influence media? This paper seeks to answer this question by examining the recent international humanitarian military intervention in Libya in 2011 to see what, if any, effect media played in the decision-making process. To determine which player, U.S. government or U.S. media, was the opinion leader persuading the other to support humanitarian military intervention, the author chronologically compared articles written in major U.S. newspapers and U.S. government statements. The author concludes that neither the U.S. government nor the U.S. media played the primary role in the case. Rather, opinion leaders were the most …